>> reporter: all three soldiers will tell you they're doing well, but they will tell you, yes, they are still having nightmares about the attack. still, they all hope to return to afghanistan. barbara starr, cnn, fort campbell, kentucky. >> hmm. pushing ahead now. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with ali velshi in new york. ali? 2:00. thanks, tony. have yourself a great day. going to the polls on one side. old guard republicans slugging it out with upstart tea part activists. most democrats are breathing a little easier, except for a couple of incumbents who still face still challenges, and as this political drama is playing out we are minutes away from president obama's second back-to-school pep talk. he's at the julia r. masterman laboratory and demonstration

school in philadelphia. we'll bring that to you live as soon as it begins. this message by the president to students, what a difference a year makes. you recall this time last year a bunch of people were up in arms over mr. obama's first back-to-school speech accusing him of indoctrination trying to ram his political agenda down kids' throats. some parents even refused to let their kids go to school that day. so they didn't have to listen to the president. look, mr. president, stay away from our kids. that's a year ago. for the most part that outcry is not being heard today, largely because it's not very useful. the white house released the president's speech yesterday so everybody could get their head around it and read it in advance. president obama doesn't always stick to the script, but we have a general sense what he'll say. as we wait for the president to begin we're going to tell you about some of the focus points of his speech. now, joining us to talk about it, we've got good people here who know a lot about education. first of all, our cnn education contributor steve perry on the

left of the screen in hartford, connecticut. with me here no new york, tony mullen, teaches at-risk students. here with me. he was the 2009 teacher of the year. national teacher of the year. cnn suzanne malveaux is with the president in philadelphia and senior correspondent ed henry at the white house. let me start with steve. steve, what's your sense of what the president is going to say and what value this is going to bring to students and, of course, not just the students across the country who will hear him but their parents and teachers, more importantly? >> well, it's typical, what he's saying to the students is, can you do great things and giving encouraging words. kids know this. they get that. they understand that. they don't need another person to come in and tell them that, no even the president. he needs to focus this speech on the grown people creating the conditions. i'd like to see him come a little more focused and say, you guys go to a test school pap school of which you have to perform at a higher level to get accepted. how about this?

all the other students, promise you good schools because the ones you have are not working. >> let's start with, go to suzann. you're with the president. boy, a very different time than it was last year where he was really having to fight back as to why he should even be talking to kids when they're back at school. different tone now. what kind of reception is the president getting on today's speech? >> reporter: well, ali, i had a chance to talk to jim, just a year ago, pressing along this whole issue what was the objective to begin with about the president speaking directly to school children? jim you might remember, used to be the head the gop in florida. the state of florida. he was very dead set on this idea that there was some sort of radical ideologist, socialism that the president was going to be spreading to america's schoolchildren that he would pull his kids out. many other parents who did the same thing. well, we have since heard from greer, who told cnn he's apologizing to the president in his words.

he says they're races in her own party, having quite a bit of difficulty with an investigation in terms of fraud in the state of florida with the gop, but if you look around here, there are not protests, not a lot of people objects to thinking. bottom line, it's the president just like last year, he's saying a very simple message, straightforward message about kids taking responsibility for their own future, the importance of education. the only thing that comes even close to a reality check with adults is he does mention about the mooted of the country, and he talks about, look, to kids i understand that we have two wars that are going on. time, tough in afghanistan, and maybe one of your parents is working a double shift or one is unemployed. you've got to be stronger and perhaps act a little bit more grown-up than you normally would, because you're a kid, because we're in cuff economic times. >> suzanne, taking the podium now. let's listen in to the president of the united states at the masterman school in

philadelphia. >> hello. thank you. thank you. well, hello, philadelphia. [ cheers and applause ] and hello masterman. it is wonderful to see all of you. what a terrific introduction by kelly. give kel abig round of applause. i was saying back stage that when i was in high school i could not have done that. i would have muffed it up somehow. so we are so proud of you, and everything that you've done and to all the students here, i am thrilled to be here. we've got a couple introductions i want to make. first of all, you've got the outstanding governor of pennsylvania, ed rendell in the house.

the mayor of philadelphia michael nutter is here. congressman pata is here. congresswoman alison schwartz is here. your own principal is here. the school superintendent arlene ackerman is here and doing a great job. and the secretary of education arne duncan is here. and i am here.

and i am -- and i am thrilled to be here. i am jut so excited. i have heard such great things about what all of you are doing, both the students and the teachers and the staff here. you know, today is about welcoming all of you, and all of america's students, back to school. even though i know you've been in school for a little bit now, and i can't think of a better place to do it than at masterman. because -- you are one of the best schools in philadelphia. you are a leader in helping students succeed in the classroom. just last week you were recognized by a national blue ribbon -- as a national blue ribbon school, because of your record of achievement. and that is a testament to everybody here. to the students, to the parents, to the teachers, to the school

leaders. it's an example of excellence that i hope communities across america can embrace. you know, over the past few weeks michelle and i have been getting sasha and malia ready for school. and they're excited about it. i'll bet they had the same feelings that you do. you're a little sad to see the summer go, but you're also excited about the possibilities of a new year. the possibilities of building new friendships and strengthening old ones, of joining a school club or trying out for a team. the possibilities of growing into a better student and a better person and making not just your family proud but making yourself proud. but i know some of you may also be a little nervous about starting a new school year. maybe you're making the jump from elementary to middle school. or from middle school to high school.

and you're worried about what that's going to be like. maybe you're starting a new school. you're not sure how you like it. trying to figure out how you're going to fit in. or maybe you're a senior, and you're anxious about the whole college process. about where to apply, and whether you can afford to go to college, and beyond all of those concerns, i know a lot of you are also feeling the strain of some difficult times. you know what's going on in the news. and you also know what's going on in some of your own families. you've read about the war in afghanistan. you hear about the recession that we've been through, and sometimes maybe you're seeing the worries in your parents' faces, or sense it in their voice. so a lot of you as a consequence, because we're going through a tough time, as a country, are having to act a lot older than you are. you've got to be strong for your

family while your brother or sister is serving overseas or look after younger siblings while your mom's working that second shift, or maybe some of youolder, you're taking on a part-time job while your dad's out of work. that's a lot to handle. it's more than you should have to handle. and it may make you wonder at time what's your own future will look like. whether you're going to be able to succeed in school. whether shue maybe set your sights lower, scale back your dreams, but i came to masterman to tell all of you what i think you're hearing from your pi principal and your superintendent and from your parents and from your teachers. nobody gets to write your destiny but you. your future is in your hands. your life is what you make of it, and nothing, absolutely nothing is beyond your reach. so long as you're willing to dream big, so long as you're willing to work hard, so long as

you're willing to stay focused on your education, there's not a single thing that any of you cannot accomplish. not a single thing. i believe that. and that last part is absolutely essential. that part about really working hard in school, because an education has never been more important than it is today. i'm sure there are going to be times in the months ahead when you're staying up late doing your homework, or cramming for a test, or you're dragging yourself out of bed on a rainy morning and you're thinking, oh, boy, i wish maybe it was a snow day. let me tell you, what you're doing is worth it. there's nothing more important than what you're doing right now. nothing's going to have as great an impact on your success in life as your education. how you're doing in school. more and more the kinds of

opportunities that are open to you are going to be determined by how far you go in school. the farther you go in school, the farther you're going to go in life. and in a time when other countries are competing with us like never before, when students around the world, in beijing, china or bangalore, india, are working harder than ever and doing better than ever, your success in school is not just going to determine your success, it's going to determine america's success in the 21st century. so you've got an obligation to yourselves and america has an obligation to you to make sure you're getting the best education possible. making sure you get that kind of education is going to take all of us working hard and all of us working hand in hand. it takes all of us in government, and the governor, the mayor, to the superintendent, to the

president, all of us doing our part to prepare the students. all of them for success in the classroom and in college and in a career. it's going to take an outstanding principal, like the principal here. outstanding teachers like the ones you have here at masterman. teachers who are going above and beyond the call of duty for their students. and it's going to take parents who are committed to your education. now, that's what we have to do for you. that's our responsibility. that's our job, but you've got a job, too. you've got to show up to school on time. you've got to pay attention in your class. you've got to do your homework. you've got to study for exams. you've got to stay out of trouble. you've got to instill a sense of excellence in everything that you do. that kind of discipline that kind of drive that kind of hard work is absolutely essential for success.

and i -- i can speak from experience here, because unlike kelly, i can't say i saws had this -- i can tell she was always disciplined. i wasn't always disciplined. i wasn't always the best student when i was younger. i made my share of mistakes. i still remember a conversation i had with my mother in high school. i was kind of a goofoff. and i was about the age of some of the folks here. and my grades were slipping. i hadn't started my college applications pine was a applications. i was acting as my mother put it casual about my future. i was smart enough to kind of get by, but i wasn't really applying myself, and so i suspect there's a conversations that will sound familiar to some students and some parents here today. she decided to sit me down and said i had to change my attitude.

my attitude was what i imagine every teenager's attitude is when your parents have a conversation with you like that. i was like, you know what? i don't need to hear all this. i'm doing okay. i'm not flunking out. i started to say that and she just cut me right off. she she said you can't just sit around waiting for luck to see you through. she said, you can get into any school you want in the country, if you just put in a little bit of effort. she gave me a hard look and she said, remember what that's like? effort? some of you have had that conversation. and it was pretty jolting. you know, hearing my mother say that. but eventually her words had the intended effect. because i got serious about my studies, and i started to make an effort. in everything that i did. and i began to see my grades and my prospects improve. and i know that if hard work

could make the difference for me, then it can make a difference for all of you. i know that there may be some people skeptical about that. sometimes you may wonder, if some people just aren't bet are at certain things. i'm just not good at math. i'm just not really interested in my science classes. and it is true that we each have our own gifts. we each have our own talents that we have to discover and nurture. not everybody's going to catch on in certain subjects as easily as other, but just because you're not the best at something today doesn't mean you can't be tomorrow. even if you don't think of yourself as a math person or a science person, you can still excel in those subjects, if you're willing to make the effort. and you may find out you may have talents you never dreamed of, because one of the things

i've discovered is excelling whether it's in school or in life isn't mainly about being smarter than everybody eggs. else. that's not really the secret to success. it's about working harder than everybody else. so don't avoid new challenges. seek them out. step out of your comfort zone. don't be afraid to ask for help. your siegers and your family are there to guide you. they want to know if you're not catching on to something, because they know that if you keep on working at it, you're going to catch on. don't feel discouraged. don't give up if you don't succeed at something the first time. try again. and learn from your mistakes. don't feel threatened if your friends are doing well. be proud of them, and see what lessons you can draw from what they're doing right.

i know that's the kind of culture of excellence that you promote as masterman, but i'm not just speaking to all of you, i'm tyking to kids across the country, and i want them to aller that that same message. the kind of excellence we've got to promote in all of america's schools. that's one of the reasons why i'm announcing our second commencement challenge. some of you may have heard of this. if your school is the winner, if you show up house teachers and students and parents are all working together to prepare your kids and your school for college and career, if you show us how you're giving back to your community and your country, then i will congratulate you in person by speaking at your commencement. last year i was in michigan. at kalamazoo, and had just a wonderful time, although i've got to admit, their graduating class was about 700 kids, and my hands were really sore at end of

it, because i was shaking all of them. but the truth is, an education is about more than getting into a good college. it's about more than getting a new job when you graduate. it's about giving each and every one of us a chance to fulfill our promise and to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. and part of that means treating others the way we want to be treated. with kindness an respect. so that's something else that i want to communicate to students. not just here at masterman, but all across the country. sometimes -- sometimes kids can be mean to other kids. let's face it. we don't always treat each other with respect and kindness. that's true for adults as well, by the way. and sometimes that's especially true in middle school or high school. because being a teenager isn't easy. it's a time when you're

wrestling in a lot of things. had i was in my teens i was wrestling with all sorts of questions about who i was. i had a white mother a black father. my father wasn't around. he left when i was 2. there were all kinds of issues that i was dealing with. some of you might be working through your own questions and coming to term into what makes you different, and i know that figures out all of that can be even more difficult when you have bulliness a class, or try to use the differences to pick on you or poke fun at you, to make you feel bad about yourself, and in some places it's even more serious. there are neighborhoods in my hometown of chicago and there are neighborhoods right here in philadelphia where kids are doing each other serious harm. so what i want to say to every kid, every young person, what i want all of you, if you take away one thing from my speech, i

want to take away the notion that life is precious, and part of what makes it so wonderful is its diversity. that all of us are different, and we shouldn't be embarrassed by the things that make us different. we should be proud of them. because it's the thing that makes different, makes us who we are, makes us unique. and the strength and characters of this country has always come from our ability to recognize no matter who we are, no matter where we come from, no matter what we look like, no matter what abilities we have, to recognize ourselves in each other. i was reminded of that the other day when i read a letter from tamara robinson. a 12-year-old girl in georgia. and she told me about how hard she works, and about all the community service she does with her brother. she wrote, i try to achieve my dreams and open others do the

same. that, she said, is how the world should work. that's a pretty good motto. i work hard to achieve my goals, an then i try to help others to achieve their goals. and i agree with tamara. that's how the world should work. but it's only going to work that way if all of you get into good habits while you're in school. so, yes, each of us need to work hart. >> we all have to take responsibility for our own education, take responsibility for our own lives, but wa makes us who we are is that here, in this country, in the united states of america, we don't just reach for our own dreams. we try to help others do the same. this is a country that gives all of its dollaughters and sons a r chance. a chance to make the most of their lives and fulfill their god-given potential. i'm absolutely confident in all of our students here at masterman and across this country keep doing their part, if you guys work hard and you're

focused on your education and you keep fighting for your dreams and then you help each other reach each other's dreams, and you're not only going to succeed this year, you're going to succeed for the rest of your lives, and that means america will succeed in the 21st century. so my main message to all of you here today, i couldn't be prouder. keep it up. all of you, i know, are going to do great things in the future, and maybe sometime in the 21st century it's going to be one of you that's standing up here speaking to a group of kids as president of the united states. thank you. god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. thank you. okay. second time the president has given a speech on the day back to school for many of america's students. he's at masterman school in philadelphia. try and find out what that was about. steve perry joins us. our cnn education contributor. in hartford, connecticut.

ed mully, teacher of the year, i want to start with you, tony. tony, the president was addressing this to students. bottom line. talking to students, but we know that there were students across the united states who weren't listening. there's another audience. there were teachers, there were parents. there were politicians, because education, public education is a bigger deal today in terms of national discourse than a year ago and certainly than a few years ago. what do you take from what you heard the president saying? >> absolutely right. this goes with seeing this country about public ed is huge. what i took away from the president's speech was so important. he talked about the responsibility government has. talk about the responsibility teachers and schools have. he talked about the responsibility parents have. most important, he talk about the responsibility that students have. that's very key. that's a discussion that's not always in play. >> i actually had facebook and we haven't always necessarily

brought students into this discourse. stay with us pap quick break. we're going to come back. the president, helping students kick off another year, absent the protests of last year when he tried to do this. back in a second with our panel tough students.

you're looking at live pictures. the president in philadelphia, at school, just finished his back-to-school address. something that's becoming a habit with him. second year in a row. last year he did it to a great deal of protests and objection.

this year not the case. ed henry at the white house. tony mullen with me. a teacher, teacher of the year last year, national teacher of the year. steve perry, educational contributor in hartford, connecticut. ed, start with you. nothing sticks out in this particular conversation. it was a message to students to do well and possibly t their parents and teach toers support them. >> exactly why the white house aides sort of laugh off this idea, last year republicans made a big deal out of this. thought kids would be indoctrinated into an agenda for the president, some politic. what i thought was interesting, how he tried to make a personal connection with students talking first of all about how his mom pushed him as a young student. important tore young people toer that from the president of the united states saying, used the word goofoff. at one time i was a goofoff and his mom pushed him. we've all been down that road one way or another. number two, these are middle

school, high school students at that particular school. also talking to students around the country. some identity issue oos. pushed around, struggling with who they are. he said, look, i had a white mom, a black dad. dad wasn't around a lot. kids that can relate to that in cities across america. it's important for them to hear that. you, too, in 30 years maybe weren't of you will be president of the united states. pretty nonpolitical. >> steve, said in the beginning, interesting message. you said probably a good message. not everybody really needs to hear it from the president. anything that stood out to you that was wong worthy of hearing if you're a student, parent or teacher? >> the same peach students typically get. people call me and ask to speak at the school, business leaders. the same speech they get. faces look like they're coming off their skulls, who brought my mom in to talking to me? this is the same speech. he's the president of the united states in philadelphia, a city

with posted in cases a 40% graduation rate. passed by a lot of failed schools on the bap kids are far more sophisticated than he gives them celled it for and understand the nuances. may not get the three rs, they know there's a group of students there, 20-year-olds, who wants to do something. that's the group push hard to get them elected. they want a leader. somebody to make a decision and say something to inspire them to do something. that's not it. >> but do you think this president last year has done some of that, though, with things like race for the top with a lot of intervention by the federal department of education, more than some people think is appropriate. do you think this president has put his money where his mouth is on education? >> no doubt. i think the race to the top is a phenomenal, phenomenal effort on behalf of the president and the, arne duncan, second arne duncan. that's where the students want to hear more about. the families want to hear more about. we want to hear more about. we get it.

study hard. seems disingenuous, just study hard. that's all you need. they need a good school. solid teachers who will work hard and the conversation needs to shift. the kids get it. they understanthey're supposed to eat vegetables and go to bed early, be nice to their friends. they understand that. that's not the issue. they need access to quality education right now. >> we believe lots has to be done. we talk about it every day. thanks to all three. steve perry, ed henry and tony mullen. a teacher of at-risk students here in new york. the other big story today, primaries. tea party favorite hopes to teach an old school politician a lesson in the last round of primaries before the november midterm. the best political team on television after this break. you love the aroma of beef tenderloin, don't you?

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okay. seven more states in the sdict district of columbia holding primaries, all eyes on the general elections in november. show you the map. land mass does not tell the story with the exception of new york, these are all small states, and one city with a big impact on the national landscape. delaware, maryland, massachusetts, rhode island, wisconsin, new hampshire and the district of columbia. the best political team on television is here to cover them. gloria joins me from washington from dover, delaware, cnn national political correspondent jessica yellin. wow. two of my favorites and now -- >> a team. >> who goes first? jessica, you're on the ground in delaware what is going on in

delaware? >> reporter: there is a bitter internal fight with the republican party here in delaware, ali that nobody in the state has ever seen the likes of before. you have mike castle, a seven-term -- nine-term republican congressman from the state who was also formerly the governor, beloved and well known running against a tea party insurgent christine o'donnell, so disliked by her own state's republican party today they did the inthinkable. launch add robocall against one their own candidates targeting likely republican voters and it says in part, it has a woman who says she used to be christine oh donnel's former campaign manager and says the woman is no conservative. she used campaign donations to live off of and was just out to make a buck. it is bitter here, ali. >> gloria, move it over to a little bit west and south to d.c. where you are.

there's a -- this mayoral race in d.c. just talking, listening to the president talking about education. is the d.c. mayor's race becoming sort of a referendum on this federal government's race for the top? >> reporter: yeah. i think so in many ways. adrian fenty has michelle rhee regarded as an innovative educator, praised by the obama administration and lots of folks including the teachers union who don't like they are very much. also in d.c. the story of a young man who wins, shakes up the establishment, who makes enemies on both sides, and ends up now fighting for his life. adrian fenty, 39 years old, by . interesting story, because, vort, fenty was the young insurgent and could lose today.

>> there's a bit of a theme with that. right? people from the outside coming in and baited as insiders. which one wants to talk about charlie rangel right ear in new york city? he's -- is he going to win and will it matter? >> reporter: well, i'll start. it's hard to know whether he's going to win. he's endorsed by former president bill clinton. he is beloved in his district. he's clearly had some ethics issues. lots of folks, lots of democrats, in fact, thinking that he could be a problem for them. the chairman of the tax writing house ways and means committee having problems on his own taxes? sounds like a poster child for a general election campaign. when you talk aboutth ethics. it's a problem for the democratic party if he wins. >> ate of people running in that district. gloria good to see you in washington. thanks. jessi jessica, there's tax-free shopping in delaware. right? >> reporter: i wouldn't know.

we're working. >> she's too busy, ali! >> i know. you guys -- >> reporter: yes, there is tax-free shopping. >> she's got the best race tonight. this could determine, you know, the result of who controls the senate. right? >> reporter: who controls the senate. >> watches closely. >> reporter: fewer than 40,000 people might vote and decide it. >> interesting. very nice. good to talk to you both. real pleasure. at least, freedom for american sarah shourd on her way home amp 14 months in an iranian prison but her fiance and another remain behind bars. that's sad. gecko: gd news sir, i jugot ae

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the first time in 14 months american sarah shourd is enjoying freerm. released from a tehran prison an on her way home. these pictures just in to cnn walking towards a plane just before it took off to iman. the first leg of her much-awaited trip home. he fiance and another american friend arresteded with her remain behind bars. accused of spying after all three allegedly strayed into iran hiking across the border in iraq. cnn's mary snow is following developments and joins. where is sarah shourd now and what's going on? >> reporter: a short time ago confirmation from an airport official she arrived in amman. a first public comment since replear rereesed before she left iran. she spoke with the state-run media. the television network tl. take a listen what she had to say.

>> i want to really offer my thanks to everyone in the world, all of the governments, all of the people that have been involved and especially and particularly want to address president ahmadinejad and all iranian officials and the religious leaders and thank them fo this humanitarian gesture. i'm grateful and very humbled at this moment. >> reporter: there she is tharngitharng i thanking iranian authorities. her mother nora shourd released this statement earlier saying, i'd hoped and prayed for this moment for 410 days and i cannot wait to wrap sarah in my arms and hold ter close when we are finally together again bip urgently appeal to iran not to the delay granting shane and josh's family the same joy and relief that i now have in knowing sarah is finally free. >> interesting, because obviously she's got her fiance and a friend in there. so there may not have been

acting tharnging ahmadinejad and iranian authorities, ahmadinejad announced he'd be freed and weren't of his opponents sort of held the process up? she ended up having to pay bail, $500,000 bail? >> reporter: no. according to the pross computer tehran, she had posted bail through her representative, but the state department just had a briefing, and the state department is saying, you know, we don't know about the direct circumstances, but they are making clear that the u.s. did not pay any money to gain her release. >> what about her health? what's that? >> reporter: a bit of a concern. she had a preexisting condition. pre-cervical cancer cells, but also what we found out from her family is that she had found a lump in her breast, and her mother has been very concerned about her health, and she also expressed concerns months ago ash depression. she's been in solitary confine lnt let out 30 minutes at a time. the big question now is what will happen to these two other

young american men who are still being detained? >> he fiance and friend. mary snow, thanks. top stories now, last round of primaries happening in delaware. republican congressman castle battling christine oh donn o'doe senate nomination. trying to knock out well-known republicans. new help offered to victims of last week the natural gatline explosion in san bruno. the authority that owns the line, pacific gas and electric, setting up a fund to help. the drug resistant super bug raising fears around the world arrived in the united states. the "boston globe" reports a patient in a massachusetts hospital has one of three cases in the u.s. others in california and illinois. all three patients have been to india where the bug is well

spread. all three survived pap gene attaches itself to bacteria making them immune to most antibiotics. tom edison inventsed the light bulb, alexander graham bell the telephone, wilbur orville wright, the first airplane. inspiring a whole new generation of edison's bells and wrights, a great story you won't want to miss. you'll meet them when we come back from a break. ♪

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every day on this show we feature a segment called "the big i." the i is for ideas. in collaboration with my good friends with whom i work every day at cnnmoney.com. go to the site, it's fantastic. we want to tell you where some of the big ideas are born. tech shop in menlo park, california. a 15,000 square foot invert venters' paradise full of drill presses, welders, sand cutter, grinders industrial sewing machines used to turn an inventor's dream into reality pip today we have the fonder of tech shop, jim newton and ceo mark hatch live from san francisco.

guys, when i was a kid, my father had a workshop. the place where you tinkered. a place things could fail, it's the place that could break, fall on the floor, get the right tools and experiment. you don't have one of those, you're less inclined to build stuff. you talk about all the tinkerers, bell, edison the wright brother, tinkerers and had a place to tinker. you set up a place where people who don't have that space can tinker and go and create and invent. tell me about it. mark, start with you? >> al you just hinted, tools are absolutely the most important component of being able to build a business of some kind. and essentially that's what tech shop is doing. providing people access to tools. we believe that the largest untapped resource in the u.s. is the spare time creativity and disposable income of the americans, and if we can take a small portion of what they're spending on frappuccinos and

mcmansions and get them to spend time actually building, building their dreams, we can help drive the economy. that's essentially what menlo park does, helps innovators. >> we share your view on that. i have to tell you. very impressive. i hope it catches on. jim, tell me how it works. simpler than a gym a gym membership. >> it's exactly a gym membership. pay a hundred bucks a month, come in and use all the tools to make your inventions and creations. >> tell us about some of the stuff that people have come up with. in some places you can just use this to build something you wanted to build. may not be a life-changing inventions but there are things that have come out of here. >> there's hundreds of inventors there, hundreds of people making things. i don't know, mark. what are some of your favorites? >> one of my favorites, the world's fastest electric motorcycle was partially built on-site. we've got a guy working on a lunar lander. we have remote-controlled telepresence robot.

we have another team that is -- has designed a $25 phase changing polymer blanket to help neonatal children fight off the cold or the heat. we have another team that has built one of the world's lowest cost water delivery systems. they have those in trials in china and india. we have another guy who has built a desktop diamond manufacturing device. you heard me right. people are doing fun things. little doyiles and t-shirts. building dreams is the tag line. maybe small or world changing. >> i split my time between philly, atlanta and new york. when do i get one close? >> we'll be at the maker fair in new york at the end of the month and make a very nice announcement there. >> very good. i know you guys got some franchises in -- where you got, san francisco, san jose. where else? >> we're opening a corporate store in san francisco in a couple of months. we're actually announcing san

jose today and we'll be open by the first quarter of next year. we'll be in detroit next year. and we have a current partner location in raleigh, north carolina. >> that's great. all right, guys. thanks very much for coming and telling us about this. i'll make it out to one of the tech shops and stop being a frustrated in vechbtor. >> come out and learn how to weld. >> jim newton, mark hatch. to get a link to the website go to my blog cnn.com/ali and cnnmoney.com. i cannot tell you enough about this site. it has the story up on the page and while there learn everything you need to know about the money. bill clinton back on the campaign trail and democrats launching a brand new attack on their favorite republican target. the latest hot lines hot off the cnn political ticker up next. ♪ now the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving heat patch

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it is time for our "cnn equals politics update." it's primary day. deputy political paul steinhauser is here with the latest headlines. this is crazy. i get to talk to jessica and gloria and you and mark. paul, it's like being spoiled. what is crossing the ticker right now? >> it's like christmas in september, right, ali? let's talk about it and start with what's going on. you talked about the primaries. other stuff going on. if it's tuesday, it must be ohio. who are we talking about? bill clinton. he's become pretty much a rock star for the democrats on the campaign trail. today in ohio helping out ted strickland democratic governor there facing a tough re-election.

i spoke to the democratic governors association. bill clinton is not done with ohio. he moves on to minnesota later today where he'll fund raise with the democrat's nominee mark dayton, former senator. rock star on the campaign trail. over to mark preston. >> national democrats want voters to know who john boehner is. who is he? a lot of people don't know who he is. he is an ohio republican. and if the republicans were to take a back the house majority he would be the new speaker. they want people to know about him so much they are running tv ads. they just released another ad today. let's take a quick listen to it. >> pass out campaign checks from big tobacco on the house floor. team up with wall street to block reform. >> does he have a lot of relationships in this city? yes, absolutely. >> there you go, ali. john boehner, an ohio republican. democrats are trying to villianize him saying he'd rather side with big business than the working man.

much like republicans are trying to villainize nancy pelosi. >> seven weeks to the midterm elections but we're looking ahead to the next race to the white house. peter hamby reporting about rick santorum, the former senator from pennsylvania who we think is somebody who has his eye running in 2012 for the republican presidential nomination. tomorrow he'll be in south carolina, one of the important early primary states. he's already been in iowa and south carolina and new hampshire. keeping an eye on all of those guys. >> can you do a cool camera move again? i'm loving this. it's like a cop show. >> we have dave jenkins with us. he can do the camera move again. back to mark, right? >> let's do that. >> back to mark. >> he's not participating in this. there we go. i love this. i love this. we are not going to let this die because that's so much fun. you two are excellent.

you should get your own show about cops. we're going to come back and play with the camera moves again because more on the primaries from mark preston. don't worry about that. i switched to sprint's $69.99 plan, so i wasn't charged extra. [ buzzes ] okay, i just got your breakup e-mail. e-mails are unlimited, too. and look -- i just changed my facebook status to "single." but internet's also unlimited. [ cellphone buzzing ] deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities, access www.sprintrelay.com. yeah. [ male announcer ] only sprint gives you unlimited text, web, and calling to any mobile for just $69.99. sprint. the now network. [ malhis day starts thwith his arthritis pain.. that's breakfast with two pills. the morning is over, it's time for two more pills. the day marches on, back to more pills. and when he's finally home... but hang on; just two aleve can keep arthritis pain away all day

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stay twice... earn a free night! two separate stays at comfort inn or any of these choice hotels can earn you a free night -- only when you book at choicehotels.com. a new hour, a new rundown. we heard president obama's second major back-to-school spaech last hour. was it a pass or fail or incomplete? you be the judge. the pipeline behind the deadly explosion and fire in san bruno, california, was 62 years old. that made us wonder how many old pipelines are out there and how many are safe. a startling look below the surface. also we introduce you to a provocative young filmmaker. his new movie aims to build down stereotypes and build up tolerance. a liberal democrat in harlem, moderate republican in

delaware and reform-minded mayor in washington are all in the same political boat today as voters in seven states and the district of columbia hold the last big batch of primaries before the november midterms. here is the map. trust me. what some of these states lack in size they certainly more than make up for in drama. charlie rangel, whose middle name is drama, finds out whether harlem still loves him after 40 years in congress and one very badly timed ethics scandal. his strongest challenger in a six person field is the son of the man whom rangel dee feeted 40 years ago. in delaware mike cassell tries to do at least what five other establishment republicans failed to do this year, beat a tea party backed opponent in a senate primary. christine o'donnell would very much like to join the ranks of rand paul in kentucky, joe miller in alaska, sharron angle

and mike lee all of whom rode the tea party express to victory. fenty is running neck and neck with city council chairman vincent gray in his race for a second term. all right. how do we make sense of this? if anybody can give us the big picture and juicy details in two minutes, it is our cnn senior political editor mark preston who joins me now from our d.c. bureau for two at the top. take it away. >> as you said seven states and the district of columbia holding primaries today. this is very much the end of the primary season and we're going to focus in on the general election. this has been very divisive. you had a great list of insurgent candidates that came out of nowhere and beat the establishment candidates. just ticking off a couple of recent ones, bennett in utah pb murkowski in alaska. christine o'donnell as you said hoping to do the same with mike

castle in delaware. a lot on the line. is this going to be an anti-incumbent year? so far it has been. >> let's talk about some of the other races. what are we looking out for tonight that will make a difference as we head into the midterms? >> let me go down the list in the area seaboard. new hampshire, the establishment candidate hold on? there's been a lot of focus on the race. moving down to harlem as you said, will charlie rangel survive this ethics investigation? will voters put him back into office if he wins the primary, ali, he wins re-election. moving down the east coast, will the tea party score another win in delaware where christine o doesn't come out of nowhere and defeat mike castle who is not only a congressman but former governor as well backed by the establishment and here where i sit in d.c. will adrian fenty hold off a challenge under a lot

of scrutiny of what he's done trying to reform d.c. schools. >> what are you most interested in tonight in terms of impact on the larger political scheme? is it the idea -- is it the race in delaware and whether the tea party again makes inroads. >> you know something. let's look at the whole macro level. the question is will these tea party voters that knocked out these republican incumbents, will there still be enthusiasm in november? because if there is, then what's going to be a good night or expect to be a good night for republicans, ali, in november, could be a great night. >> we will follow it very closely with you guys. thanks very much. message last hour to students from president obama. he's hoping to motivate young people to make a difference by hitting the books and making good grades as they head back to school this year. president obama is acknowledging times are hard for lots of people right now and kids might be feeling the pinch. here is today's "sound effect." >> a lot of you as a consequence because we're going through a tough time as a country are

having to act a lot older than you are. you've got to be strong for your family while your brother or sister is serving overseas or you have to look after younger siblings while your mom is working that second shift or maybe some of you who are a little bit older, you're taking on a part-time job while your dad is out of work. and that's a lot to handle. it's more than you should have to handle. and it may make you wonder at times what your own future will look like, whether you'll be able to succeed in school, whether you should set your sights a little lower, scale back your dreams. but i came to masterman to tell all of you what i think you're hearing from your principal and superintendent and from your parents and from your teachers. nobody gets to write your destiny but you. your future is in your hands. your life is what you make of it. and nothing, absolutely nothing is beyond your reach.

so long as you're willing to dream big, so long as you're willing to work hard, so long as you're willing to stay focused on your education. >> and what a difference a year makes. remember all the fuss last year that some conservatives made over president obama's first back-to-school speech? they accused him of trying to force his political agenda down the throats of the schoolchildren of america. look at that sign. mr. president, stay away from our kids. we're not hearing that backlash. jim greer, the former chairman of florida apologizing for leading the opposition to last year's speech. good on you for doing that. when we come back lots of other information. we'll talk about the speech and the pipelines, how old the pipelines are in this country. ♪

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the pipeline blast in san bruno, california, last thursday is under investigation. one of the facts that came out, the pipeline that blew up that neighborhood was laid 62 years ago. i don't know whether that's a good thing or bad thing. josh levs has been looking into the issue of pipeline age and safety. that wasn't josh levs. that was barack obama. let's show josh levs. you were studying these pipelines. give me a sense of the age of pipelines in this country. >> a lot of them are decades old. this is a serious problem. this is one thing that we saw here and not the only a place we've seen the problem.

give au handful of stats. the first thing you should understand is we're talking about a massive web of pipelines in this country. 2.5 million miles of these things underneath our country, enough to circle the earth 100 times. many are very old. a couple more key stats. you and i have talked about this, they're carrying various things. hazardous liquid, gas transmission and by far the huge bulk or majority are natural gas distribution pipelines. that's a lot of what we're hearing about now. given what happened out in california, i wanted to know how often accidents happen. take a look what we're learning here. as we're looking at numbers here this is from the department of transportation. they're saying that since 199, , 5,626 counties and 365 fatalities, 1553 injuries in that time since 190. clearly we're talking about something that can be a serious

problem. let's go to these pictures of pipelines around the country. i also want you to understand that you have the department of transportation and other officials saying as these things go, these are actually really safe. they've done some studies. same thing from the congressional research service. they took a look at this and they're saying that when it comes to moving this massive volume of natural gas all over the country, what you need is the current system in place. they're standing by it and saying that this is the safest, most convenient way to get all of this around the country. so despite the fact that there are accidents, there are problems, this is what they're saying. on the other side you have these critics that say a lot more needs to be done. one of the critics joined us earlier today in the newsroom. >> only 7% of these pipelines -- the pipeline mileage is actually required to be inspected under the 2002 law. we need not only to expand the areas but a process for continuing to expand the pipe --

the areas of pipeline that have to be inspected and inspected with more rigor than they are today. >> that's what we're hearing from a lot of people. saying a lot more needs to be done. final thing on this screen. see this huge map. everywhere that there's blue, everywhere in this huge mess of blue is a natural gas pipeline that's going across states and the red are inside states. all of this all over the country. this is why when we're talking about millions of miles clearly something has got to be done to follow especially these old ones that could potentially have these kinds of disasters. >> again, we don't know yet because we haven't got any information on the investigation whether the age of the pipeline was the issue or somebody put something -- somebody hit it or something or penetrated it in some fashion. useful to know because before you told me i didn't know that that was the age of a pipeline. as i say before anyone gets carried away we don't know whether it's good or bad but you

put it in great perspective as only you can do. >> even the government says the fact that it's been around so long means a lot. we don't know in this case but when you have something that's been underground decades and decades and stuff can happen we know it's a concern whether or not it's responsible for san bruno. >> and underground it's not out there for you to see and trip over and come into contact with but you also don't know as we found in new york with the blackouts a few years ago that stuff underground was rotting away. we don't see it all the time. josh, good to talk to you as always. thank you. did president obama inspire the teachers to get the school year off to a great start? i've asked that on my facebook page. go to facebook.com ali velshi cnn. ...because on our trips, i always get there faster. see, expedia lets me mix and match airlines. so i can take one airline out... and another home.

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in choctaw president obama is talking about fixing schools by motivating students. last hour he gave a second back-to-school speech urging students to study hard and reach for their dreams. he also said it would take a collective effort to make sure kids succeed. listen to this. >> it takes all of us in government from the governor to the mayor to the superintendent to the president, all of us doing our part to prepare our students. all of them for success in the classroom and in college and in a career. it's going to take an outstanding principal like the one here and outstanding teachers like the ones you have here at masterman, teachers who are going above and beyond the call of duty for their students. and it's going to take parents

who are committed to your education. >> joining me now is randy weingarden, the president of the american federation for teachers. let's talk a little bit -- earlier some people were saying whatever it's the president saying things that people's mothers should say to them. it was a bit surprising last year when he decided to make the speech and there were so many people up in arms about the fact that the president would dare to speak to our nation's students. i can't even imagine what that was all about. i'm kind of glad we didn't have protests about the president speaking. was there anything useful in what he said to you, though? >> i think it's great every time the president goes out and makes a speech about education because it says that education and public education is important. i love that the president went out last year to a school to make a speech to kids and i loved it again this year that he did because kids have a responsibility to their own

education as well as their teachers and their parents. and when he said that your drive and your discipline is absolutely essential to success, he's a role model to kids and he's talking directly to them. so that's fantastic. so i thought it was a great day that he did that. what it says -- the other thing he said which is really important, is that this is a collective responsibility on all of our parts. teachers can't do it alone. parents can't do it alone. so we all have to step up to the plate and do more. and you and i have had that conversation a number of times on your show. but the fact that he went right to kids and said, look, this is your destiny and you have to step up to the plate is great. >> important point you make, tony mullen is back with me. he was teacher of the year in 2009, currently teaches at risk students in new york city. fantastic story, tony, yours is. a police officer for 20 years. complete career as a police officer and turned to teaching. we talked earlier there is some criticism about why the

president is talking to the students but you were mentioning students are a very large part of this process. >> absolutely, yeah. when you look at the big picture of education and you think about the three factors, you think about what's important in the success of a child's education. you have the parent and you have the schools and the teachers and you have the student. we have taxpayers doing their part right now funding the schools, funding government initiatives, we have parents working two jobs. we have schools and teachers working very hard being held accountable. then we have our students. and we need our students to be motivated. the best teacher in the world can't do anything unless a student does their home work and comes to school and learns. >> and they provide the environment to do that. randi, there was nothing inflammatory in this conversation with the president and nothing that sort of targeted any constituent group. this was really a bit of a pep talk to students and parents and sort of a sense of creating your own destiny. that said as i discussed with tony over an hour ago we are in a tumultuous time for public

education. what is your evaluation right now about this president and this department of education, what they have done in their efforts to remedy some of the problems of public education in this country? >> look, even when i may disagree with some of the strategies, i am very grateful that this president has said to our country that we must invest and change public education if we're going to prepare all of our kids for life, college and career. and ultimately, part of the -- the real key here is to give us the space to actually do our work. what tony is saying is absolutely right. teachers, we have to engage kids in curriculum. we have to have good teachers. we have to have good teachers supported buy good leaders and robust curriculum and the kind of conditions that help meet

kids on those needs. that's a prescription for success. but if we're not all working together. if the first impulse is to scream to one another as opposed to engage and roll up our sleeves, we're not going to help our kids. i think when he makes a speech like this as he did today that says -- reminds us of our collective responsibility and reminds everyone of their individual responsibility. that's a good day for education. >> this is a case of collective and individual responsibility. randi, of course as you know all good topics in this country cause us to want to scream at each other. tony, do you feel teachers feel that is the case. a lot of teachers feel the first impulse is to scream and sometimes to scream at the teachers. >> but that's okay. that's part of the job. part of the job is we need to be thick-skinned. but i also think the president made a very good important point when he talked about how the students get to write their own destiny. that's what quality teachers do. quality teachers remind students that origin is not their

destiny. what we also do quality teachers, good teachers, bulk america's teachers we teach them one math lesson and say you need to know this not only in school but throughout life. the sum of all the yesterdays equal the value of tomorrow. >> randi, it's good when you have a schoolteacher 20 years on the street as nypd. >> he was working the beat while we were in the schools. tony is a great teacher. i met tony. i love tony. and what we also need to do is we need to support our teachers. and what teachers are basically saying through the country is support us, don't scapegoat us. we know we want to be good. we want to make a difference in the lives of kids. we need the conditions and the tools to help us. >> if the conversation doesn't happen anywhere else it will happen on this show. great to see you. randi weingarten, tony mullen

teacher of at risk students here in new york city and the national teacher of the year last year. thank you to both of you. we've got hurricane pictures from outer space. you're not going to believe your eyes. [humming] ooh! here we go. what? whaaat?

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oh! tell me we're still talking about insurance. rewarding loyalty. now, that's progressive. call or click today. aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. okay. there he is. you see him. whenever you see him and it says hurricane headquarters, i stop and pause. chad, what have you got for us? >> i have a very impressive hurricane. i think it's even getting bigger than what the numbers show. we'll find at at 5:00. but the good news with this storm that earl didn't do is look at the line. look at the line. whoa, this thing has now turned to the right. it's moving to the north, isn't

it? bad news for bermuda. also the eye is getting smaller here. a smaller eye means like an ice skater pulling her arms in. the winds are going faster. also, the purples are here as well. we believe this storm is probably still a category 4, maybe even taking a run at a high 4. right now 135 top get to cat 5 you have to be 156. so it has a ways to go. doesn't matter. the problem is under that 2, see under that 2, bermuda is under there somewhere on sunday. an approach to land at bermuda with hurricane igor at, wow, 105 miles per hour. that would be a pretty significant direct hit. now, if you're heading to the caribbean or maybe going on a cruise ship a little bit closer we have other things to look at. the cayman islands getting squally today but also right through here. this could be the next storm with a "k," karl. because out there in the middle of the atlantic is julia or

julia, if you like. julia, 85 miles per hour. was only a tropical storm a couple of hours ago but now upgraded to an 85-mile-per-hour category 1. i have some amazing pictures, though, from nasa that i want to get to for "off the radar." there we go. because we are completely off the radar but some high-def pictures coming off the nasa space station. why is this so cool? because when we look at hurricanes from weather service, noaa satellite, we're talking 22,000 miles in space. the space station only 200 miles or so in space. so the pictures are really, really clean. hey, ali, tell me how fast -- i know this is a rhetorical question. how fast dow think the space station is moving right now? how fast? just give me a number. randomly. >> i couldn't even venture a guess. >> i know. it's impossible to put your hand around this.

17,000 miles an hour. it rotates around the earth every 91 minutes. so every time it goes by, we get new pictures of these storms. as a matter of fact, we even have pictures from julia but they're not as impressive. >> good thing i didn't guess because i wouldn't be close. >> remember how the shuttle has to catch up to the thing to be able to dock to it. they're going 17,000 miles an hour in tandem and then they dock. that's pretty cool. that's good driving. >> i complain about having to parallel park. chad, good to see you. thanks very much for keeping me posted. >> bring me up there sometime. >> wherever i am you are welcome at least virtually on tv. freedom nor american sarah shourd on her way home after 4 amongst in an iranian prison but her fiancee and another friend remain behind bars. it's a sad story.

time now for "globetrekking." to iran. for the first time in 14 months american sarah shourd is enjoying her freedom. released from a tehran prison and now on her way home. these pictures just in show shourd. she was walking toward the plane. there she is on the plane taking her first to oman which is the first leg of her much-awaited trip home. as for her fiancee and another american friend arrested together, those two remain behind bars. they're all accused of spying after all three allegedly strayed into iran while hiking across the border in iraq. cnn's mary snow following developments here with me in new york. first joining us on the phone senior international correspondent nic robertson in oman. bring us up to speed. >> reporter: she arrived --

sarah arrived just about half an hour ago, a little over. she was met here at the airport by her mother and by her uncle. the reason she came to oman apparently, the omannian government helped facilitate that $500,000 bail for her. that has been paid. as she was leaving to go to a chartered flight that was to fly her here to oman she said i really want to offer thanks to everyone in the world, all the governments, all the people involved. she said i especially want to address president mahmoud ahmadinejad, the president of iran and all the iranian officials, the religious leaders and thank them for this humanitarian gesture. she said it's not clear exactly where she's going to move on from the capital here in oman, whether she'll wait here a few hours or try to catch a flight tomorrow. it's late in the evening here right now. >> nic robertson, thanks very much. you'll bring us up to speed if you hear anything else about it. mary snow also following the story from the united states.

>> we're learning more about what nic had mentioned in terms of these funds. confirmed through a senior administration official that these tundz came from oman. clearly the white house and state department thanking oman with its involvement, a country with relations with iran and thank the swiss which represents u.s. interests in tehran. as nic mentioned, sarah shourd before she left made those comments. her mother also issuing a statement earlier, obviously before they were reunited saying i hoped and prayed for this moment for 410 days and cannot wait to wrap sarah in my arms and hold her close when we are finally together again. i urgently appeal to iran not to delay granting shane and josh's families the same joy and relief that i have in knowing sarah is finally free. shane bauer, josh fattal still

detained. unclear what will happen with them. >> she's out on bail which means she may have to go back for a trial? >> that is really the big question. when the state department spokesman was asked about that today, he is saying that this is an iranian matter. so was not very clear about what happens now because as you said -- >> nothing about this has been entirely clear although her mother was clear about the fact that sarah had some health issues, which is why it was really important she get health care. >> and she's made this appear before to officials in iran to let her go to be treated for this medical condition. she had a preexisting gynecological condition but also what has -- we now know is that sarah shourd had apparently told her mother that she'd found a lump in her breast. remember the mothers were allowed to visit their children for two days back in may and she had apparently conveyed that information to her. >> we'll stay on top of this. thanks very much with you and nic robertson. coming up next "mission possible" a filmmaker's faith in his personal project.

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a trio of guests with us for today's "mission possible" all part of a new movie called "mooz-lum" about a young muslim-american facing serious issues of faith and identity. coming out in a very opportune or inopportune te depending how you look at it. we have ther ad director here. a producer also in new york. and roger, he's an actor in the show joining me from l.a. thank you to all of us for

joining us. i want to start with you kassim. this is -- it's kind of auto biographical. it's inspired by your upbringing. you're muslim? >> yes. >> and you grew up in michigan? >> yes. >> you had sort of a typical american upbringing in many ways? >> absolutely. >> at some point it became clear to you that you were not the same as everybody else. you were being treated as an other. >> right. >> pick it up from there. >> the reason i made this film, i was raised a certain way, learning a lot of different things about love and acceptance and forgiveness, that kind of stuff. none of which is what's being portrayed nowadays of the whole extremism, terrorism, that angle. so i felt like i needed to do something about it and my voice is pretty much writing this film. >> something interesting that you wrote and i picked up on. you said you as an american not only live in fear of terrorism but you live in fear of being associated with terrorism. >> absolutely. the issue here at the root of

this whole thing is the fact that there's this other approach from people not realizing we are americans as well. like we're here as well. if something happens here, we're going to be victims as well. >> and there were. >> there were victims in 9/11 as well. we have to come at an approach of togetherness thing and fight this thing together because we're fighting against it as well. >> let's -- dana, let me bring you in. you're jewish-american. and you guys didn't really think when you were coming out with this movie that it would be as i say opportune or inopportune a time depending how you look at it but that we'd be completely immersed in this dialogue about the role of muslims in america. tell me yourview on the timing and perspective that you bring to this. >> well, i think the timing post 9/11, i think the timing was always right to raise these subjects in a film. and i think obviously we're

hoping that we can add something to the national conversation. we all had our own conversations while making this movie. i'm jewish. quasim is muslim. roger, i'm not exactly sure of his faith but we've all really worked together and we as a group of people made this film in a spirit that we would like our country to move forward. the messages that we want to project are in the film. if you watch the film you'll know how we all feel about everything. >> roger, she doesn't know what your faith is. i'm still struggling to pronounce your name. can you tell me how? >> my name is roger gambir smith. smith is s-m-i-t-h. >> you're playing a part in this movie. tell me about it again. i can't get past the idea of perspective because it looks

like a movie somewhere on the fringe but that it is possibly the most talked about issue in america right now. >> i don't think at that it's on the fringe. i think it's really in the tradition of great first films. and great young filmmaker who has made a courageous film which is semi-autobiographical in nature and really minds the dilemma of faith and also of youth and also of family and it's something that i think speaks to a very wide audience. and it speaks in a peculiar way because of this peculiar time in which we're living right now. >> but quasim you didn't do it for this particular time ironically. you were going to tell the story anyway. >> anyway. the stars aligned. and like dana says within this conversation is happening out

and we'd like to be added to the conversation. hopefully we can turn the view of the conversation in a different direction by the placement of this film and opening people's eyes to a different side of what islam or muslims in america are because it's a whole vast group of people. >> i think that's the key. everybody wants to know what they are and maybe the story is that they aren't one. they aren't one thing. tell me where people can see this movie. >> you can go to "mooz-lum" the movie.com. you can converse with us on facebook. we do not know exactly when it's coming out. but we will be premiering this friday in new york. we'll be in chicago at the chicago international film festival next month. >> i hope people get to see it. >> me too. >> thank you to you. thank you to dana and roger guenyuar smith. good to have you out here.

god knows we all need more information on this topic. everybody is talking about it. if you'd like more information on "mooz-lum" the movie we had a link at my website cnn.com/ali. where is he? is he there? it's that time. ed henry standing by at the white house. our senior white house correspondent deciding to go back to school after the president's pep talk to students. let's talk to him about that on the other side of the break. [ male announcer ] set down your pencils. step away from the internet. schedule no meetings. hold all your phone calls. for the next hour, there will be no agenda.

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it is time for our "cnn equals politics" update. senior political analyst gloria borger in washington with the hour's latest headlines. i'm getting spoiled. you, jessica, paul, mark. >> so much fun. >> good fun for me. tell me what's crossing the wires. >> i thought i'd start with an economic issue for you because as you no he there's been lots of talk at the white house about naming elizabeth warren, who is a fierce consumer advocate as head of that new consumer financial protection agency. we have a new story on the wire here from ted barrett, our congressional producer, and ed henry whom you know, that in fact there's been talk that the white house might name her to

the job as an interim head, which would mean that she wouldn't have to get confirmed by the senate. but today the chairman of the senate banking committee chris dodd said no way, don't do it that way. you need the institutional support for her and if you do it that way you, quote, could gut this before it even gets off the ground. back out on the campaign trail, you know we've got this hot race in delaware between an insurgent candidate and an incumbent congressman, mike castle. today our dana bash caught up with the man who heads the senate campaign committee and he made it very clear this race is the linchpin for them to take control of the senate and senate john cornyn also said that if she won whereby if christine o'donnell wins, then he would, quote, have to have a pow wow about whether the campaign committee would actually fund her candidacy against the democrat. so that's a big deal, ali.

>> gloria, thank you so much for that. glad you guys are on top of it. thank you for starting off with an economic issue for me. gloria borger in washington. ed henry is -- is he there or is he coming? oh, okay. you're not standing next to gloria. this is all very confusing keeping track of you. >> reporter: we were going to handoff. >> didn't you feel like going back to school? sorry. >> it is like going back to school and that's why i thought it was nice for gloria to break it down in an easy way for you to understand. >> i like the bullet points. i like it. what do you think of the speech. >> reporter: it was interesting because mostly at how noncontroversial it was. you've been talking about how last year there were conservatives suggesting that everything was going to come apart and that our children were just going to be indo doctrinda into a socialist agenda by the president. it's on the political ticker

right now at cnn.com one is re can'ting saying he's in a lot of trouble now and he's facing all kinds of ethics allegations and so he's going through a lot of difficulties. nevertheless, he's saying a year ago he made a huge mistake by suggesting that kids were going to be indoctrinated. he's apologizing to the president and said there were intolerant people in the republican party who just wanted to beat up on the president last year. this was a very simple message from the president. what's amusing to white house aides is there's all these storms kicked up about things that turned out to be noncontroversial and i think it ties back to the whole john boehner thing. when you ask white house aides why have you taken on boehner in a direct way, in part they say for the last 20 months they've watched as conservatives have beaten up on this white house on one issue after another. the president's stimulus, the president's health care plan, the president's tax cuts or increases. all him and they can attack. the white house decided to put a republican alternative out there

in john boehner to maybe even things out and seem to be scoring some points that way. >> john boehner -- are we still parsing his words from the weekend. has he done any more on taxes. he sort of said if he's left with no other choice but to vote for what the democrats want and that is to extend tax cuts, the bush tax cuts for the middle class but not for the wealthy, if that's all he's got to vote on he'll do it. >> reporter: i haven't heard him say anything new tonigday. there's a big party tonight for eric cantor and other young republican leaders not always on the same page as john boehner. there's talk john boehner is going to the book party with the upstart conservatives tonight because they have their own agenda, book coming out, a manifest yoe about what they think should happen if republicans take control of congress. one of the young guns eric cantor had the opportunity to bail john boehner out and instead kind of ignored what boehner said and said we want to

make sure all the bush tax cuts are extended, not just the middle class ones he was talking about but for the rich et cetera. john boehner points out later in that cb interview boehner still stressed that he wants to extend all the bush tax cuts. but the fact that he zeroed in on the middle class tax cuts for a second and that's in line with where the president is, there are republicans who feel he gave up a negotiating tactic, gave up too much to the president before the negotiations even started. >> we like to be nonpartisan here so i'm afraid if i say this people will either say we're big republicans or somehow in john boehner's pocket. but something you haven't brought up about john boehner that i would think is something he has in common with us. have you seen his ties? he always wears a colorful tie. he likes ties. >> reporter: he likes the color green. i don't wear a lot of green ties. i don't know if you do. but he likes that color. >> see if he wants to come on the segment. by the way -- see, he's got an orange tie on in this video.

do you know roland is coming out with a line of ties and ascots. >> are you serious? i shouldn't be that surprised. maybe we should do a henry/velshi line. >> or be a subbrand of roland martin. he said he'd like us to wear some. >> reporter: why cede this to roland martin. >> this is not a great day to make that case. your tie doesn't have any color. >> reporter: it's a solid tie. >> that's crazy. good to see you. ed henry at the stakeout at the white house. normally he has fantastic ties. elections, colors, one word says it all. one word turns innovative design

into revolutionary performance. one word makes the difference between defining the mission and accomplishing the mission. one word makes the difference in defending our nation and the cause of freedom. how... is the word that makes all the difference.

time now for "wordplay." today we're all about the basics, fundamentals and utmost. the word is primary and comes up in both big stories. primary schools which prepare our kids for high school and college we hope and primary elections which choose the party candidates for the general elections to follow. if you don't think these elections matter ask arlen specter, lisa mruczkowski or bon bennet who lost the right to run in november. sometimes it's tantamount to general elections as in washington, d.c., where democrat voters so outnumber republicans that the winner of tonight's democratic mayoral primary can pretty much plan his inauguration. one final note of primary importance, you'll find the best political team on television only on cnn. lowering taxes always a good idea, right? not so much. what i might say in "xyz" might get you riled up. just trying toy

on my car insurance. you know, with progressive, you get the option to name your price. is that even possible? uh, absolutely. trade? and i still get great service? more like super great. oh, you have a message. "hello." calculator humor. i'll be here all week. i will -- that was my schedule. the freedom to name your price. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

time now for the "xyz." as things stand president obama wants to extend the bush era tax cuts that apply o mid the class or households earning less than $250,000 a year. that means 97% of americans would continue to get the breaks. that sounds like a great thing but let me put this into perspective. it's not free. extending tax breaks to the top 3% would cost between $650 billion and $700 billion. extending it to the rest of us will cost a lot more. everyone wants to pay less in taxes but with an economy with a debt like america's that may not be a good idea. arguments it will grind economy

to the hold may not hold water either. our tax rates are relatively low and we have not seen a huge surge in spending. americans need to come to terms with this issue. it seems obvious if you're concerned about the economy you'll vote for someone who wants to cut taxes, the deficit and the debt but they don't go hand in hand. wanting to bring down the debt and deficit higher taxes may be the most immediate way to do it because those dollars go into government coffers. cut taxes and people in business have more money to spend and theoretically spend it in ways that either create jobs or increase domestic demand which creates jobs but that assumes that those people have enough faith in the economy that they won't just pocket their tax savings. i say this so you can make an informed decision at the voting booth. who can you fault for wanting to pay lower taxes but don't be fooled into thinking that you, if you are the average american, are going to be paying less of anything. the victory for you have might be the existing bush tax cuts being